Democracy In Albany

Not as exciting as watching Barry Bonds cry, I know.  But there is important stuff there.

From the Executive Summary:

The significance of backdoor borrowing is evident in the form of currently outstanding State-supported debt. Of the total of $45 billion of this debt, only $4 billion followed the constitutional procedure requiring approval of the voters; the remaining $41 billion is backdoor debt issued by authorities on behalf of the State.

...

New York State's extensive reliance on authorities has given rise to four significant problems:
· Misuse of the power to incur debt
· Insufficient oversight and coordination of project revenue backed and private conduit borrowing
· Insufficient reporting to support accountability
· Insufficient independence in governance

...

New York State was one of eight states having debt levels in the danger zone, with its debt ratio the third highest in the nation. State-supported debt in 2003 exceeded the State's danger-zone threshold by nearly $10 billion.